Medical Council of India (MCI), the foremost body for governance of medical standards pertaining to educational institutions has collaboration with the National Board of Education. Together they screen graduates who have done their education abroad. This has been the practice since 2002; prior to this, there was no screening conducted for Foreign Medical Graduates. Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) helps give recognition to students from foreign universities who want to qualify as a regular doctor in India.
You find one reason for medical students wanting to study in foreign universities. It is that they fail to qualify for the PMT in India. Now, they have undertaken their commitment to do medicine and their professional career seems to have suffered a setback. They go abroad to Russia, China, and Belarus among others. However, when they return to India, they have to be proven, qualified doctors. This will only occur if they are given clearance by the MCI.
Let us put things in perspective. India is sure in need of doctors. We have 0.7 doctors for every 1000 people according to the 2012 census report. This implies that each doctor serves 1,394 to 25,403 people depending on where they are put up. The maximum demand for doctors is present in Gujrat (one doctor for every 25166 people), Tamil Nadu (1 for 25,042), Maharashtra (1 for 24,540) and Bihar (1 for 23,174). The WHO norms prescribe 1 in every 1000 people as a standard. India has 92.9 lakh doctors registered in the Indian Medical Registry.
Under one study, it was seen that two categories of doctors are required. First, would provide basic health services while the second would help develop medical services that incorporated the latest technology. However, serving rural people does not hold too much excitement or inspiration for the doctors.
The medical sector has many defects and corruption is one of them. Recently the UP government came under fire for being involved in a fraudulent scheme. The National Rural Health Mission, one of the flagship programs of Indian health program was caught up in the scam amounting to Rs. 10,000 crores. This adds to the woes of the people who do not have adequate health care. This is in a country with the maximum number of medical colleges in the world.
The FMGE has seen only two instances where the pass percent was greater than 50% of those attending the examination. In 2015 September, 2,851 students attended the FMGE. The number of students who passed was 2,192 giving a pass percentage of 76.8%. The next instance was in March 2008 when 1,851 aspirants participated. Students clearing the examination was 1,087 giving a 58.7% pass percentage. Last year, in June, there were 5,967 candidates and 603 of them cleared it. The December batch saw 6,407 appearing with 731 of them clearing the examination.
The format of the FMGE is straightforward. The examination consists of 300 questions. The questions are all multiple choice with one correct answer. The language is English. The candidates submit the test in two parts each consisting or 150 questions. Both the parts must be completed within one day. To qualify as a candidate for the examination, one must have a degree in medicine such as MBBS from India or any equivalent degree from any foreign university.
India is woefully short of health care professionals. From this perspective, it is a pitiful situation to see that students who study abroad fail to qualify in their FMGE. Some people attribute this to the strict examination format prescribed used in the FMGE while others maintain that the MCI must relax its vigil with regards to foreign students. How far this can go towards increasing the quality and quantity of medical care in India is anybody’s guess.
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